First (4 hour) Opera

You may have seen some of our fun on Instagram last weekend. We were both in New York City with our husbands to see Prince Igor at the New York Metropolitan Opera. I’d like to say that we are opera aficionados and we were well aware that this was the first time Prince Igor had been performed at the NY Met in 100 years, but to be honest, this was a first, for all of us! To attend an opera was on both of our bucket lists and seeing as my cousin, Maria Dolan is an opera singer and was performing in Prince Igor…and…seeing as the dates of the performance lined up with my birthday, well, we just couldn’t let this opportunity pass us by.

Maria Dolan

Our husbands agreed, but we must confess, we didn’t tell them until the week we were leaving that the opera was 4 hours long. Not that that would’ve been a deal breaker, because they love us AND we had already bought the tickets. Friends of ours joined us for dinner before hand at The Lincoln where we had an exceptional meal, great conversation and superb service…and some of the best salmon roe I’ve ever tasted!

Our hostess at the restaurant knew we needed to be done in time to get to our seats at the opera house. “The opera waits for no one!” she said. Most of us finished dinner with a coffee (to help with the long night ahead) and left with plenty of time to spare. The New York Metropolitan is everything you think an opera house should be; ornate, grandiose, extravagant and beautiful. Chris Ann immediately recognized the painting on the wall as a piece by artist Marc Chagall.

We found our box seats and settled in. Devon and I had read the synopsis of Prince Igor on our ride up to New York. If you’re as curious as we were, you can read it HERE. My cousin told us afterwards, that we had chosen quite a first opera to cut our teeth on. She was impressed. She went on to say that most operas are 2 1/2 to 3 hours long. We did have bets as to which husband would be asleep first. (I’m not going to rat out who won.) The chandeliers raised and the lights dimmed.

The orchestra started playing, the music swelled, the curtain rose and for the next four hours, we were mesmerized by powerful, melodic, bold and sensual voices. The sets were awe inspiring and the people watching during our intermissions was fascinating. But the best part of the evening, was being with the people I love while watching someone I love, pursue her passion for all to see.

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